Cocktails

The Caribbean has inspired more than a few drinks around here. A couple of sailing trips in the British Virgins Islands gave me a new appreciation for rum, which hadn’t been a favorite. Now, rum drinks taste like salt air, lazy sunshine and a gently rocking sloop.

Tonight, while we enjoyed the slow bossa sounds from the stereo, I mixed up a batch of Hemingway daiquiris, or Papa Dobles, inspired by a favorite book Islands in the Stream.

We sipped on our not-too-sweet, not-too-sour daiquiris and dreamed of another Caribbean trip. Belize, perhaps. What do they mix their rum with there, I wonder?

The Inspiration

“He was drinking another of the frozen daiquiris with no sugar in it and as he lifted it, heavy and the glass frost-rimmed, he looked at the clear part below the frappèd top and it reminded him of the sea…”

Hemingway wrote a lot about drinking, but no other cocktail gets as much attention as the daiquiri in Islands in the Stream. Reading this book took me back to the beaches and bars of the B.V.I. where time moves a little slower and a drink is never far away.

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The Hemingway Daiquiri

Several versions of this recipe exist but I went with the one that is endorsed by El Floridita, Hemingway’s Havana haunt.

3 oz. white rum (Ron Matusalem Silver is nice)

juice of 1-2 limes (about 1 oz.)

juice of 1/2 grapefruit

6 drops maraschino liqueur

Here’s where I break tradition. The original calls for blending it with cracked ice. I’m going with my version, which is shaken over ice and served up. It’s your call. The cocktail is wonderful both ways.

CAUTION: It’s called the “doble” because it’s a double. Yes, as in two drinks in one glass. Go easy, you’re not Thomas Hudson. Fictitious characters can drink as much as they want.